So, how is Ultraman Nexus?

[Giganzilla]

I don't know, maybe it's just me, but it definitely seems like you guys might actually enjoy sentai and henshin series.

Anyway, I come to you as a person that has never, ever seen Ultraman, Kikaida, nothing. The closest I get is watching the old shows Americanized by Saban and whoever else does it now (Power Rangers, Masked Rider, etc), and that probably doesn't quite count.

That said, I was really intrigued by Ultraman Nexus for some reason. Perhaps the hype around the new movie (which looks nice), the fact that it was touted as being serious unlike Tiga (I did watch an episode or two, didn't like what I saw, and didn't get a chance to watch most of the time anyway), or that I have to find a way to justify the Pedoreon and Garuberos sitting on my desk.

So, how is it? I've been unable to download the episodes due to my connection speed, even though I'd really like to. Any opinions on the show are welcome, I just want to know if it's worth it after all. One last thing, if someone was able to get me some help with obtaining the episodes, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks, and apologies if I got a bit carried away with this post.

[Xenorama ™]

i haven't seen it- but then i like the original series, as well as Cosmos more than the ultra-serious ones like Tiga, Dyna and Gaia. but you could get a DVD pretty cheap from eBay, i bet, usually with about 8 episodes.

[Shonokin]

******SPOILER ALERT*******

I like most the ultra series, some more than others. I think Nexus is really good though it has its drawbacks. The storyline is good but I like dark and horror based type genres and Nexus is getting more horror based as it goes. In last weeks episode (# 23) Nexus is defeated by none other than Cthulhu.

That's right. You heard me. Cthulhu. Well basically it's Cthulhu. A transdimensional nightmare beast with the tentacled head and bat wings and the katakana is spelled KUTOuRA.

There's a nifty magazine scan of this episode here and some screen grabs here

Can't wait to see what happens in #24 because right now Nexus' host Jun Himeya is toast.

[Xenorama ™]

i'll be getting some of these episodes soon, so i'll see how they suit me. i didn't even remember reading this originally!

[Xenorama ™]

i watched three episodes and it really didn't grab me. i'll try some more soon, but it seems like there is no sense of fun at all in the series, far too dark and gritty and monsterless.

David

[August]

This series kicks all kinds of ass! It's the GMK or GAMERA 3 of the Ultraman Series.

[RedKing]

I would agree that NEXUS is similar to GAMERA 3 and GMK, neither film I like very much at all! I do like NEXUS quite a bit though because of the overarcing storyline and unusual amount of character development, which are , frankly, almost unheard of in other Ultraseries. I also like the dark, almost noirish and horror film atmosphere of the series. I really did not like COSMOS with it's inanely non-destructive and poorly designed monsters and the pacifist attitude of Cosmos, and the "cute" and "funny" antics of the humans in the show(not to mention the Captain's Elvis hair do!), and NEXUS is the polar opposite! However, I have to say I like MAX and what I've seen of MEBIUS ALOT better!

[Shonokin]

I also like the ongoing storyline. I think Nexus was structured the way it was in order to cash in on what was happening with Kamen Rider at the time, by boosting viewership among Japanese stay at home Moms who enjoyed the drama and prettyboys more than the monsters.

And the lack of monsters, or even worse the lack of an interesting area to fight within is a sticking point for me. The first 24 eps mostly have the kaiju battles happening on the very same set time after time. That got seriously old fast.

What I like about Nexus is that it for once was a different layout than a normal Ultraseries. Because honestly I can get bored with Monster of the Week fights over and over again. In the older shows the locations and monsters were so diverse this wasn't a problem, but I think that these days the designs and situations have gotten a bit bland.

I haven't watched more than one ep of Moebius and maybe 6 episodes of Max. It just hasn't held my interest.

[RedKing]

What I liked about Max and Mebius is that tsuburaya returned to the roots of the Ultraseries with Max and used alot of classic monsters(as well as directors like Shusuke Kaneko and Takeshi Miike) and Mebius went even further and returned to the Showa Ultraseries continuity! I don't mind the monster of the week formula if the monsters are well designed. I really liked Tiga, Dyna and Gaia for that reason-those 3 series probably have the most consistently well designed monsters of any ultraseries.

[August]

While TIGA, DYNA and GAIA were great and featured cool monster designs, they just aren't as indelible as those in the original ULTRAMAN, which is the template by which all of the succeeding series are measured.

[RedKing]

That may be true, but even the original ULTRAMAN has it's share of poorly designed monsters-Gamakujira, Gavadon, Zumbolar, Greenmons, etc. I'm not saying that TIGA, DYNA and GAIA were better, just that they had the most consinstently well designed monsters-there are very few stupid looking monsters in any of those series. That was what, for me, really hurts alot of the 70s shows - the overabundance of really dumb looking monsters! The original ULTRAMAN is by far, my favorite Ultraseries, although I'd have to say I like THE SPACE GIANTS slightly more as my favorite tokusatsu series.